"The Legend of Harry Chapin" would make a great story ballad, but only Harry Chapin could write it. The late songwriter who told wrenching tales in his long and emotion-soaked ballads has become an icon for many, spawning ongoing fan clubs, annual music festivals, a variety of theatrical events, and many organizations that continue Chapin’s long-time interest in fighting world poverty and hunger.

One of those organizations is Kids Make a Difference, based in Mystic, and for several years now KIDS has held a fund-raising concert at the Venice Ballroom on Shore Road in Westerly.

This year, the benefit will honor Harry Chapin with a tribute concert featuring two of his longtime collaborators, bassist and singer "Big John" Wallace and drummer Howard Fields.

The concert is set for Saturday, Aug. 25, at 7:30 p.m.

"Howie and Big John were both extremely important for Harry Chapin," says Paul Motter of Suffield, Conn., who organizes the annual Misquamicut concerts and whose band Satinwood will also be featured at the event.

"Big John was the very first musician to join Harry, and he also played in the Chapin Brothers Band before that. He has this phenomenal voice that’s both a really low bass and a high soprano. He has a multi-octave range, real vocal pyrotechnics. I bet you didn’t know that’s his voice in ‘Taxi,’ the really high, ghostly soprano. Most people think that’s a woman singing, but it’s Big John. He’s also the baritone voice in ‘Mr. Tanner’ and ‘30,000 Pounds of Bananas.’

"We’ll be singing all of those numbers for the Misquamicut concert, all the story songs, and we’ll be doing ‘Sniper,’ which a lot of people think was Harry’s best song, plus all the favorites like ‘W.O.L.D.,’ ‘Cat’s In the Cradle,’ ‘Any Ole Kind of Day,’ and ‘Circle,’ which is my own favorite."

Motter is a versatile guitarist and vocalist known for his knack of emulating the style of various artists and lending a realism to his concert recreations, like this tribute to one of his favorite role models, Harry Chapin. Motter’s wife Melanie, the group’s arranger and director, is an accomplished pianist and does backup vocals. Eric Roth plays the cello, "Big John" Wallace plays the bass and Howard Fields will be on drums.

"Howard teaches drums out of his studio," says Motter, "and he still plays with the Steve Chapin Band, and he’ll also play whenever the Chapin Family does their full show, with Harry’s father, his brothers and sister, and some of the next generation as well – Jen Chapin and the Chapin Sisters, which is just an angelic trio. Harry was always proud that he came out of a whole musical family."

Born in 1942, Harry Chapin was the second of four children, and his brothers Tom and Steve formed a band called the Chapin Brothers before Harry even became interested in music. Their father Tom Chapin was a drummer for Big Band-era groups like the Woody Herman Orchestra. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, the Chapin Brothers played high school gigs around Brooklyn and Harry joined in, though he intended to become a documentary film maker, and in 1968 completed an Oscar-nominated film, "Legendary Champions," about boxing legends like Jack Dempsey and James L. Sullivan.

By 1971, Chapin was more focused on music and he formed his own band, which included "Big John" Wallace, Tim Scott and Ron Palmer. They began playing in New York City nightclubs, and in 1972 he released his first album, "Heads and Tales," which included the sleeper hit "Taxi."

Later albums included "Sniper and Other Love Songs," which featured another hit, "Circle," "Short Stories," and his biggest success, "Verities and Balderdash," which featured "Cat’s In The Cradle." He also wrote two shows for Broadway, "The Night That Made America Famous," and "Cotton Patch Gospel."

By the mid-70s, Chapin was equally focused on music and social activism, and many of his concerts were given to benefit charitable causes like World Hunger Year. It’s been estimated that at least a third of his earnings went to charity.

"Harry, without a doubt, would be a politician today," says drummer Howard Fields. "Probably a congressman with an eye on the presidency – no joke. He’d also be writing songs, and ... I’m certain that had Harry lived, his career in the ‘80s would’ve had the potential to change drastically. It was only six months after his death that MTV began. I remember to this day, Harry, in 1980, talking about something called ‘music videos’ being on the horizon and that it would be something that he was going to be involved in."

Sadly, Chapin died in July 1981 following a fiery automobile crash on the Long Island Expressway. The official cause of death was a massive heart attack, which may have led to the accident – according to witnesses, Chapin had turned on his emergency flashers and was swerving on the expressway before colliding with a truck. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his work to fight hunger.

Bass player "Big John" Wallace was just 9 years old when he first played with the Chapin brothers in school concerts. "We met at the Grace Church in Brooklyn Heights, where I was the boy soprano soloist," Wallace says. "Later, when I had an upright bass, I’d go around with Harry in Brooklyn Heights to people’s homes."

When Harry Chapin and his brothers went on tour in 1971, Harry asked Wallace to play bass and sing backup vocals for his band. Wallace performed with Harry for ten years until Harry’s death. After that, he started a computer graphics company. In 1991, the band he spent ten years with was reunited and they still play to this day.

Another unique component of Harry Chapin’s music is the cello, which is why Paul Motter invited cellist Eric Roth to join Saturday’s ensemble. Says Wallace, "Harry always thought about James Taylor’s ‘Fire And Rain.’ Actually, that was an acoustic bass played with a bow. But Harry heard that sound and he felt his voice was rough, masculine, and he wanted a softer, more feminine sound to counter-balance it. He knew in the beginning he wanted it there."